breaking news in america this morning, flames shoot into the sky and homes are rattled for miles after a massive explosion. >> we were actually in the house. and we didn't know what was going on. we just heard a loud boom. and some of the doors and stuff were knocking. >> firefighters on the scene of a florida propane plant. we have the latest. new numbers show how anthony weiner's sex scandal is hurting his chances of becoming mayor of new york city. a young girl contracts a deadly brain infection. and doctors say a swim at a water park is likely to blame. it's a man going nearly 200 miles per hour, soaring through the sky.

and good tuesday morning. we begin with breaking news in central florida. a string of frightening explosions rocking a gas plant and nearby neighborhoods. >> sending flames high into the air. seven workers rushed to the hospital with burns. dozens of family members in the city of tavares, forces from their homes. abc's devin dwyer has the latest. >> reporter: the eruption of flames could be seen for miles away. the glow of burning propane piercing the night sky. witnesses who heard the explosion shortly before 11:00 p.m., thought a plane had gone down. >> i went in the backyard. and the sky was lit up red. this vibrant red with a huge plume of smoke. >> reporter: from the sky above, a glimpse at the destruction. the roof of the plant blown entirely away.

authorities said the blue rhino propane tributer had 50,000 tanks on site. they were set off in a violent change reaction. >> they store the cylinders in different parts of the property, in different areas of the plant. as the fire continued to spread, there were more and more explosions. >> reporter: officials say all of the two dozen night shift workers inside the plant have been accounted for. several people injured were air-lifted to nearby hospitals where they remain in critical condition. meanwhile, more than 200 emergency responders have descended on the scene. >> right now, they're main concern is containing the fire, containing the scene. and making sure no one's in danger at the scene. >> reporter: the explosion forced the temporary evacuation of residents within a one-mile radius of the plant. this morning, the residents and the families of the victims await answers on what sparked the blaze. devin dwyer, abc news. this story rocketed around social media overnight. the first images started pouring

into twitter moments after the explosion. >> one of the first came from the @mariaguzman handle. you can see a fireball from blocks away lighting up the sky. >> instagram. this picture coming from meg z. the intensity of the fire can be seen here across the lake. >> and the youtube videos started popping up shortly after the explosion. this one coming from the user name beautifullyallured. stay tuned for the latest on the explosion. we'll continue to update you throughout "america this morning." plus, full coverage coming up on "good morning america." now, to a political firestorm that just won't go away. more than half of new york primary democratic voters say it's time for anthony weiner to get out of the race. governor andrew cuomo the head of the state's democratic party declined to weigh in. the party heavy-hitters, bill and hillary clinton are signaling it's time for weiner to go. he doesn't see it that way. >> i'm not terribly interested in people that are not

voters in the city of new york, have to stay. i'm focused like a laser beam on what they care about. >> former new york governor eliot spitzer, forced out of office over a prostitution scandal, said he would not vote for weiner. more than 100 prostitutes have been rescued after raids in 76 u.s. cities. some of the victims as young as 13. most in the san francisco and detroit areas, along with milwaukee, denver and new orleans. the fbi says the plight of the young victims goes unreported. >> one of the most prevalent, violent and unconscionable crimes in this country. >> traffickers are preying on youth with low self-esteem and minimal social support. >> many of those rescued were runaways or had come from group homes. 150 alleged pimps were taken into custody. u.s. catholics are reacting to remarks by pope francis on gay priests. the pope spoke with reporters for nearly an hour and a half on

the plane to the vatican from brazil. the fact he hosted a news conference was newsworthy. then he said priests should not be marginalized for their sexual orientation. it marks a tremendous change in tone from the leader of the world's catholics. a change in tone could soon be coming out of the middle east, as another attempt is being launched today to secure peace in that region. secretary of state john kerry has appointed martin indyk to shepherd a new round of israeli/palestinian peace talks. the talks could start today. private bradley manning will learn his fate today for releasing 700,000 secret government documents to wikileaks. the military judge overseeing manning's court-martial in maryland says she will announce a verdict this afternoon. the defense claims manning was a an innocent whistleblower that was trying to expose war crimes. the prosecutors have labeled him as an anarchist and trader. the two top democratic contenders for president sit down for breakfast this morning. hillary clinton and joe biden dine at the naval observatory.

yesterday, clinton lunched with president obama. the formal rivals shared salad, grilled chicken and pasta jambalaya, whipped up by the white house chef, of course. the white house spokesman said it was a chance for the pair to catch up. new information about former penn state football coach joe paterno's reaction to the jerry sandusky sex abuse case. this comes from former paterno assistant mike mcqueary. he says paterno once said the school mishandled its response to the sandusky case. he also claims top school officials knew he had seen sandusky molesting a boy in the shower. this testimony came at a hearing to determine if three ed a straser administrators should be tried in the case. a woman accused of defacing the national cathedral is under arrest this morning. the 58-year-old who may be homeless was taken into custody after green paint was splattered across two chapels. detectives are trying to determine if she's linked to similar vandalism at the lincoln memorial and a statue near the smithsonian. and far to the west,

tropical storm flossie turned out to be a fizzle for the hawaiian islands. all tropical storm warnings have been canceled, as civil defense officials bid aloha to emergency personnel. there's no reports of serious damage or flooding. now, for the rest of the weather across the nation. another day, pleasant, dry weather for the northeast. mostly dry in the southeast. arkansas and tennessee could see scattered showers. more thunderstorms with heavy rain for parts of kansas, missouri and illinois. >> seattle and portland highs in the mid-80s. dallas and phoenix will be 100 or hotter. cooler along the california coast, mostly along the 60s. breaking news this morning, that explosion at a propane plant in florida. we'll update you on that situation as we continue to get more dramatic images from the scene. and $18 million worth of mistakes. errors riddled a woman's credit report. so, she took matters into her own hands and came out on top. details when we come back.

a high-stakes dispute could determine whether millions of cable tv viewers will continue to see cbs programming. in a statement issued just after midnight, time warner said it would remove cbs' three markets, including here in new york. overnight, it backtracked as both sides continued negotiations. at issue, how much time warner pays to transmit signals at its cbs stations and at cable channels, like show time. president obama is traveling to chattanooga, tennessee, touting his better bargain for the middle class. president obama will visit an amazon warehouse, a day after

the online giant said it will add 7,000 jobs. critics say the amazon business model is hardly a better bargain since amazon relies on temp workers who don't get health benefits, reliable hours and have no job security. mcdonald's and subway duking it out over who is the bigger chain. subway has 45% more locations than the golden arches. but the sandy chain is no match. for mcdonald's sales power. 35 minute $5 billion over $12 billion. mcdonald's sales, more than subway's, wendy's, burger king and chick-fil-a all combined. and is apple iphone going downmarket with plastic? a new report suggests the new plastic-backed iphone could be hitting stores this fall. analysts say a plastic iphone would help apple expand the market share with people who can't afford the regular iphone. the new plastic model would retail for about half of the regular model. when we come back, the breaking news from florida. firefighters on the scene of the massive propane tank explosion. we have new information coming

into abc news. we'll of course bring it to you. plus, he picked the wrong person to mess with. wait until you see this woman did when someone tried to steal her cell phone.

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we build programs based on what employers are looking for. our football team is always undefeated. and leading companies are interested in our graduates. we'll even help you decorate your new office. ok. let's get to work. now, for a look at morning road conditions. it will be wet along roadways in southwest -- southeast kansas, missouri and southern illinois. great driving conditions for the northeast. >> a good day to fly. with delays expected only in kansas city. now, to recap our top story. firefighters in central florida have contained a massive fire after a series of loud explosions tore through a gas plant overnight. >> about two dozen workers were on duty at the tavares plant where hundreds of propane tanks started exploding, one after another. blowing off the roof. people miles away were stunned.

>> i heard a big thump on the roof. and the cat ran like hell because it thought i was going to blame it for something. and went out in the backyard. and the sky was just lit up red. vibrant red with a huge plume of smoke. >> there were more than 50,000 propane tanks at that plant. it's too early to determine what sparked the first blast. now, to oregon, where a woman has won a multimillion-dollar award after battling one of the big credit agency. judy miller sued ek we fax after calling the company to eight times to get her credit report fixed. she has been awarded $18 million in damages because equifax didn't fix those mistakes. >> there was all kinds of incorrect information. like incorrect debt collector information. and incorrect social security and birth date. we did put some of the things off that we had planned to do during this phase because we couldn't get credit.

>> equifax is expected to appeal this award. one in four credit reports contains some kind of errors. a united airlines employee and his wife have been charged with stealing luggage in the aftermath of the san francisco plane crash. crudup and thomas out on bail. the pair stole luggage which arrived at the airport unattended after a plane was diverted because of the crash. a little girl from arkansas is battling a brain infection she likely contracted at a now-closed water park. they voluntarily shut the park. she got violently ill days after playing at a park near little rock. doctors have diagnosed her with a rare meningitis caused by a parasite found in stagnant water. we have a health alert for heavy smokers this morning. federal health experts are telling them to get a c.t. scan to check for lung cancer.

that's for those who spoked a pack of day for 30 years, even if they quit as long as 15 years ago. lung cancer kills some 150,000 americans every year. annual c.t. scans could save now thousands of lives every year. police believe a man was drunk when he drove off a cliff and plummeted 40 feet to the beach below. and the car landed upright, on its wheels and the driver survived. he was hoisted back up to the road, followed by his car. the driver suffered major injuries. but they're not considered life-threatening. a video from russia is going viral. and plenty of skepticism. watch the woman standing against the wall, when a thief grabs her phone. she attacks and drops him with a kick. then, hitting him. she grabs her phone and runs off. leaving him on the ground with other unsympathetic walkers just passing him by. plenty of internet commentators say the whole thing was staged. >> that looks a little -- hold

on. look at it again. >> he just turns around. >> he turns around. >> and he kneels there. >> he's singing soprano. >> i don't know, if she hit him where it hurts, couldn't he be holding to that. >> why would you turn around? >> right. keep running as fast as you can. you got your iphone, anyway. >> i'm 50/50 on that one. >> i don't know about that one. i'm skeptical. an umpire admits to blowing a call that could have caused the red sox the game. >> we get the details from espn. >> good morning, america. i'm neil everett in the "sportscenter" studios in los angeles. dying for a fenway frank. let's go to boston and see if we can get one. the rays and red sox. david price. he is always great at fenway. and monday was no different. 7 1/3, got jonny gomes there. peralta comes in. we have runners at second and

third. brandon snyder, foul ball. fuld catch, throw. daniel nava. and he's out. and john farrell's going to be out, the boston manager, when he comes out and argues. farrell gets tossed. it appears to have not been accurately called. nava gets his foot in under the tag. and jose molina, the home plate umpire, admitted he missed the call. the pirates moving up on the cardinals in the n.l. central. game and a half back. the first of five games. andrew mccutcheon, off jay westbrook. rbi single makes it 1-0. and on the next pitch, pedro alvarez, his 27th. pirates, 9-2. they'll play two on tuesday. four walkoffs monday. three by a home run this season. have a great day. >> we will.

look out, america. jetman will be taking on our blue skies. >> this adventure, yves rossy, is set to wow crowds in oshkosh, wisconsin. >> he'll make his first flight in the u.s., with his custom-built jet suit. he gave reporters a preview yesterday. >> rossi will propel himself through the sky at 190 miles per hour, at heights up to 12,000 feet. >> that looks really cool. >> i don't want to be his co-pilot. i'll be in the safe plane. >> how do you land that bad boy? >> that's the only problem. once you get up, how do you get down? up next, "the pulse." all-homer all the time? it could be the news "simpson" fans have been waiting for. and something strange in the wilderness. what's the mysterious animal that hikers say they caught on camera? we have the details, coming up. [ male announcer ] this is bob,

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all right. one more note from reality tv. this one from abc's "the bachelorette." >> this happened last night. one of desiree's final three men, brooks, took himself out of the running for his heart. he told desiree he wanted to be in love with her. but he wasn't, through the drama and the waterworks. and she told brooks she did love him. how does it all end? we'll have to wait for part two of the season finale, coming up monday night. after more than two decades on television, "the simpsons" may be getting their own channel on cable. >> fox is considering a channel

to the longest series ever to hit primetime. "the simpsons" are on their w to 500 episodes. >> 11,000 of minutes of "simpsons" already exist. while the channel, 24/7, it would take a week to exhaust all of the episodes and repeat one. >> i would watch that. >> i would, too. and finally, those who believe that bigfoot is out there somewhere, right now, we have new evidence of his existence. here's brand-new video that was taken in the wilderness of british colombia. >> clearly, it's bigfoot. is that mysterious sasquatch there bigfoot? it looks like all of the alleged eyewitness accounts. >> it's unclear when this video was recorded. believers in bigfoot, want experts to examine this footage in hopes of proving its existence once and for all. are you a believer? >> i guess i'm not a believer. i'd like to believe it.

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>> live from the kgo-tv broadcast center this is abc7 news. >> good tuesday morning. thanks for joining us. >> breaking news from what is a familiar scene for san francisco firefighters: they put out a fast-moving house fire and called the police because of what they found inside, in visitation valley. abc7 news amy hollyfield is on tucker near delta. amy? >> firefighters say they found a marijuana grow inside this home. they think the fire was started because of an electrical problem. this home looked like it was dedicated to a grow operation with five rooms with growing equipment and the residents had bypassed the meter for electricity. firefighters do believe that is the cause of the fire. no one was home at the time. they got the call after midnight

to come to tucker avenue in visitation valley in san francisco. three rooms were on fire. when they tried to go inside they realized something was suspicious. athey encounters with entry and noticed it was highly secure unusual for this time of residence. it became apparent this was a marijuana grow operation. >> firefighters say this wasn't a huge grow and they took some plants into custody from the house but not a lot. no arrests were made. the fire is out. there is just a big mess. now the big mystery is, who did this belong do? >> now a look at the weather

forecast. it is similar to yesterday morning. >> exactly. a lot of cloud cover. drizzle along the coast. we will watch it to see if fog is forming. good morning, to you. this is how it looks from the roof camera toward the embarcadero with the ferry building and bay bridge. we may have smoky haze like yesterday from the fires in oregon. it is possible with temperatures below average at 76 to 82. around the bay we go from 65 to 76. the cool breeze will keep the coast into san francisco around 58 to 64. now the only commute. leyla gulen? >> starting busy with an overturned vehicle near the tunnel traveling along old tunnel road we have this. we have a subject possibly trapped in the car. we are looking at slow-and-go speeds from orinda to the tunnel on 580 westbound between tracy and dublin, 2